How To Restore A Steel Bike Frame
It s amazing how good a modern wheel set can look on a vintage bicycle frame.
How to restore a steel bike frame. Various grades from 40 to 1200 are good. Saftey glasses paint brush rubber gloves paint aircraft stripper wire brushes wax and grease remover shop rags wet. This is sometimes done to restore a historic or valuable frame but may also be done just to get a frame back on the road. In this short video andy runs through in more detail the process he uses to clean and restore bicycle frames for the bikes that he restores.
Steel wool for removing dimples in a steel frame wet and dry sandpaper for sanding smooth a steel frame. After all relatively few people will ever have to time opportunity and resources to learn how to actually construct a steel frame but taking on the challenge of resurrecting a classic road bike. My completed schwinn world sport so with these tips i was able to take the above pictured frame and turn it into the single speed to the right. If you have any hints or tips yourself that you wish.
Paint stripper toxic fumes and nasty burns can come of this stuff. We re refinishing a steel frame here. Chemical paint remover and abrasives will do serious damage to a carbon fiber frame and so the best you can so is to leave the original finish in place and roughen it slightly so a new finish will adhere. This videos is part 1 on how to prep your bike for paint tools you need.
But let s discuss carbon fiber aluminum and titanium for a moment. We build restore and sell classic steel bikes since 1996. Steel brush see rust removal grease in a tube general purpose bike grease from a bike shop is great and will set you back 5 10. Besides bike accidents the greatest enemy a steel frame may face is corrosion you needn t worry about this much if you ride an aluminum carbon fiber or titanium frame but if yours is steel if.
This is what i d suggest for any vintage build since silver wheels were once ubiquitous and they blend right in with any vintage bike frame you re restoring. Or take it to a professional powder coating shop to really restore the beauty of your classic frame. A steel frame can be repaired by replacing a frame tube outright.